Human Trafficking: A Hidden Crime

 According to the U.S. State Department, 600,000 to 800,000 people are trafficked across international borders each year. Despite it affecting around 20 million people worldwide, the issue still seems remote and difficult to grasp. The reality is the victims are closer to us than we think. They are in our stores, local businesses, and residential communities. But can we identify them and ensure that they receive protection?

 The Immigration Legal Assistance Program at Lutheran Social Services (ILAP) provides comprehensive legal and social services to trafficking survivors. ILAP receives referrals from a variety of sources, including law enforcement, social service providers, and the general public. The stories of survivors take many forms. For example, Maria (her name has been changed to maintain her confidentiality) was a struggling single mother who was hired in Brazil by a Brazilian couple. She was promised an opportunity of moving to the United States to work as a full time nanny. She came into the country legally as a domestic worker.

At first, if you met Maria, you would see no red flags. She cared for two children and kept up with the housework. But in reality, she worked in precarious conditions living in a flooded basement of the employer’s house. She worked long hours at very little pay. She was threatened constantly by her employers who said they would call immigration if she disobeyed. Her passport was taken from her, and she had limited contact with the outside world. Many of the people who she encountered were naïve to the facts of her exploitation. Eventually, she sought a way out, and LSS helped her to apply for a T visa for victims of human trafficking. Now, she has legal status and is in the process of reuniting with her daughter.

 How Maria was identified

 There was a neighbor who thought it was strange that Maria was always working in the house and never seemed to leave. The neighbor managed to find a Portuguese speaker to find out more about her life and her work at the house. Although she was suspicious, the neighbor never directly asked her if she needed help or offered to help.

There was also an employee from the moving company who came into the employer’s house. He saw something was wrong when he went down to the flooded basement and saw the soaking wet mattress she slept in. As other people had previously told her, he said that she should quit her job and seek help. She wanted to leave, but it was difficult because she did not speak English and was completely dependent on her employer.

Maria didn’t feel safe asking for help. She was afraid to talk about her work conditions because she feared that her employers would find out. She didn’t understand her rights in the United States as an immigrant. She came across many people who didn’t know how to orient her and guide her to where she should find help. It wasn’t until she came across a person who offered to bring her to the Brazilian Immigrant Center that she received the help that she needed and learned that the law was on her side.

Maria was eventually introduced to the Metrowest Worker Center and referred to our office. LSS helped Maria to apply for a T visa. As a client, she received assistance from a caseworker and an immigration attorney and was finally able to achieve her American dream – to thrive as a new member of the community. LSS is also assisting Maria to reunite with her daughter. Today, Maria is working as a hair dresser, taking ESL classes, and attending regular therapy sessions to recover from her trauma.

How you can identify a victim of labor trafficking?

Look for signs: 

¨       Housing may be provided by employers;

¨       The worker does not have identification or a passport;

¨       The worker(s) are always accompanied by employer;

¨       The worker is afraid to talk to strangers;

¨       The worker is less than 18 years old; and/or

¨       There was fraud in the employment contract.

Please keep in mind that labor trafficking takes a variety of forms. If you are not sure whether a situation is labor trafficking, please feel free to contact LSS at (508) 754-1121, ext. 408.

 What questions might be helpful to determine if the individual is a victim of trafficking:

• Can you find another job if you wanted to?
• Can you come and go as you please?
• Do you feel pressured at work?
• Have you been hurt or threatened by employers?
• Has your employer threatened to deport you?
• Where do you sleep and eat?
• Are you in debt to your employer?

How to help?

After hearing about the horrors of human trafficking, it’s imperative to be alert to situations that look suspicious to assess the situation by asking questions and to offer to help. No government alone can end human trafficking, but individually we can help to raise awareness about this crime and demand protection for the survivors. To find out more information about human trafficking or to report something suspicious, please call the National Human Trafficking Resource Center at (888) 428-7851.

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Blog post by Caroline Dacosta, Legal Assistant at Lutheran Social Services of New England.

Pro Bono Attorney Profile: Sheila Corkhill

In the fall of 2013, Sheila Corkhill, a graduate of Boston College and Seton Hall University School of Law and a former immigration attorney at Catholic Charities, became a member of the pro bono panel at the Immigration Legal Assistance Program at Lutheran Social Services (LSS) of New England. Throughout the past nine months, Attorney Corkhill has represented an unaccompanied minor child in his claim for Special Immigrant Juvenile (SIJ) Status. I sat down with Attorney Corkhill to learn more about what drew her to volunteer with our organization and to get a sense of her experience working on that case.

Christina Borysthen-Tkacz: How did you first become interested in immigration law?

Sheila Corkhill: Before I went to law school, I traveled to Honduras for one month on a Catholic service trip and stayed with families who were living in extreme poverty – a transformative experience. After that, I felt drawn to help and knew that when I went to law school I would make an effort to represent immigrants and refugees.

Christina Borysthen-Tkacz: What drew you to working with immigrant children in particular?

Sheila Corkhill: Well, I was a board member at an academic scholarship program that helps educationally disadvantaged children go to college. We found out that one of our students our organization was helping was undocumented and desperately needed legal assistance. I contacted my friend Amy Wax, an immigration attorney in the Boston area, who along with Attorney Jay McManus from Children’s Law Center determined that the child was eligible for Special Immigrant Juvenile (SIJ) status. From there, Jay, Amy, and I worked on the case and won SIJ status for that child. Since then, the child has graduated from college and recently married. Gaining SIJ status was truly life changing for her and gave her a pathway to a better and full life.

Christina Borysthen-Tkacz: Could you talk about your experience working as an immigration attorney at Catholic Charities?

Sheila Corkhill: Yes, I worked within Refugee and Immigration Services at Catholic Charities, where I provided forms assistance, worked on adjustment of status and naturalization applications and consular processing, R1 petitions for temporary nonimmigrant religious workers, and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) cases. I also worked on family reunification cases, and on petitions for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for several individuals from Haiti following the 2010 earthquake in that country.

Christina Borysthen-Tkacz: Since joining LSS’s pro bono panel, you have graciously volunteered your time to represent a young boy in his claim for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status. Could you describe that experience?

Sheila Corkhill: My client survived extreme deprivation and hardship in his home country in Central America. He is a resilient and brave young man who is rebuilding his life through education and hard work. My client’s story and all of these children’s stories are so compelling, as is helping a vulnerable child with no family or support. It has been a very meaningful experience.

Christina Borysthen-Tkacz: How would you describe your experience of working with LSS attorneys and staff?

Sheila Corkhill: I have loved volunteering with LSS, especially because of the immense practical experience it has given me because of the frequent client contact. I have been honored to hear my client tell his life story and to get to know him through this representation. This pro bono opportunity has been very hands-on, requiring client meetings and appearances before Juvenile Court, United States Immigration Court, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services , which has been a great experience. The staff attorneys at LSS are readily accessible and have offered support throughout the process.

Christina Borysthen-Tkacz: What have you found most difficult about your pro bono experience?

Sheila Corkhill: Well, I would say that it has been somewhat frustrating trying to navigate the bureaucratic delays within a broken immigration system. For me, it was difficult to hear a young person discuss the traumatic and emotional events that he had experienced, but those difficult interactions were also motivation to help my client through the legal complexities in any way I could.

Christina Borysthen-Tkacz: Would you be interested in exploring other types of pro bono immigration representation?

Sheila Corkhill: Yes, I’d like to take an asylum case, a VAWA petition for relief under the Violence Against Women Act, and then a U or T visa case, in that order if they’re available for referral. I’m also interested in representing individuals in immigration detention.

Christina Borysthen-Tkacz: What advice would you give to an attorney who is considering volunteering with LSS’s pro bono panel?

Sheila Corkhill: This is a valuable experience, especially for new attorneys, because there are so many court appearances and USCIS interviews involved. I would also tell a prospective volunteer not to be overwhelmed, because there are so many resources available to get you up to speed in immigration law. LSS provides plenty of support, and even the court employees are quite sympathetic to an attorney taking on a pro bono case. It is worth it to help someone stay here in the U.S. and to avoid the poverty and danger of returning to his or her home country. I’m grateful to have the opportunity to represent these children at LSS.

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Blog post by Christina Borysthen-Tkacz, AmeriCorps Attorney at Lutheran Social Services of New England.